Everyday is a Winding Road
by SistaSouljah
Summary: Nick and Sara have found each other. Now what?
1. Loverboy

Disclaimer: If it's familiar to you, it doesn't belong to me (which I guess includes the title that I borrowed from the song by Sheryl Crow, which has nothing to do with the story, I just liked the title).

A/N: I have nine chapters of this already written, but the whole story's not done yet and since I don't like WIPs I was going to wait till I was finished to start posting. But I haven't worked on it in awhile and these chapters are just collecting dust sitting in my computer, so I decided to start posting now. Oh, and FYI, this story is kind of random (hence the vague summary), so bear with me. Or don't, I guess.

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Chapter 1 – Loverboy

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"I'm so glad our case went so smoothly," Catherine said as she opened up her locker and gathered her things to go home. "It's Lindsey's birthday today and I wanted to be home before she left for school."

Nick smiled. "How old is she now? Ten?"

"Yep," Catherine sighed. "Already at double digits."

"Before you know it she'll be sixteen and all the boys will be knocking at your front door to take her out on a date," Nick joked.

"Oh God, I don't even wanna think about that," Catherine smiled.

Warrick and Sara strolled into the locker room with big smiles on their faces.

"Looks like we solved our case," Catherine deduced.

"Yeah, piece of cake. All we had to do was show the suspect the blood stained shirt we found, and he cracked like an egg. Confessed and everything," Sara replied animatedly.

"I heard you guys got a slam dunk too," Warrick said to Nick and Catherine.

"Couldn't have been easier," Nick said. "Guy turned himself in before we even had any suspects. We didn't even finish processing half the evidence."

"And the night shift rules," Warrick said as he stuck his fist out to Nick, who raised his own fist to meet Warrick's.

Catherine laughed. "Well I'll see you guys later, I gotta get going. Lindsey should be awake soon."

"Oh right, today's her birthday," Warrick remembered. "Give her a big birthday hug for me," he said.

"And a big birthday kiss for me," Nick quickly said, trying to one up Warrick.

"Okay, I will," Catherine smiled as she left.

Sara closed her locker and smiled at the fact that Warrick and Nick competed for attention with Lindsey. They always seemed to find a way to make everything a competition.

"I'll see you guys later," she said as she slammed her locker shut.

"Later," Nick said.

"Nice job last night," Warrick said.

"Thanks," Sara said as she walked out.

"Breakfast?" Warrick asked Nick as he closed his locker.

"Thanks man, but I think I'm just gonna go crash," Nick replied. "I'm still trying to recoup from the double we pulled two nights ago.

"Alright, no problem," Warrick said.

"See ya."

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Nick drove quickly home, whistling happily along with the radio. As he approached his house, he realized his driveway was empty. _Weird_, he thought to himself. _She should be here by now_. He shrugged it off as he pulled into the driveway, assuming she must have stopped off at her place first.

As soon as he closed the front door behind him, he headed straight for the kitchen. When he opened the fridge, staring back at him were two bottles of beer, a seriously moldy orange, a leftover takeout container, and an assortment of condiments. He grabbed the takeout container and cautiously opened it, taking a whiff. He quickly recoiled and tried to suppress his gag reflex as he realized that eating whatever it was in the container was definitely out of the question. Defeated, he slammed the fridge shut and tossed the container in the garbage. He scanned the rest of the kitchen, and was pathetically excited to see one lonely English muffin sitting in its bag on the counter. He put the slices in the toaster and stood staring impatiently at the shiny silver box until the slices popped up. As he was slathering a generous portion of strawberry jam on each slice, he heard the front door open.

"What took you so long?" he called out.

"Supermarket," she said as she came into the kitchen and placed the grocery bags on the counter. "I know that fridge is probably bare."

Nick, still attempting to fill every nook and cranny of his English muffin with jam, felt a slender pair of arms come from behind and wrap around his waist.

"But I can see somebody couldn't wait," Sara said when she saw what he was doing.

Nick turned to give her a quick kiss. "Did you get OJ?" he smiled.

She pulled out a carton from one of the bags and handed it to him.

"With pulp?" he practically whined.

"Hey, the last carton was boringly pulp free," she reminded him.

"I know, but it's not like you dislike no pulp. But see, I dislike pulp. So therefore, the only way to compromise is to have no pulp," he concluded logically.

"Nice try," Sara said as she took a bite of Nick's English muffin. "Besides, pulp is good for you," she smiled her gap-toothed smile.

He smirked back at her and wiped the jam she had on her lip. He stuck his finger out to her, and she playfully licked the jam from his finger before turning to put the rest of the groceries away.

Nick poured himself a glass of orange juice and stood eating and drinking at the counter as he watched Sara put away the food, paying particular attention when she opened the fridge and bent down to put some tomatoes in the vegetable bin.

They had been together officially for about three months, but it seemed like so much longer. Once they quit dancing around the obvious and started dating, their relationship progressed quickly since they had already been friends for so long. They were already at the point in their relationship where they spent so much time at each other's homes that it was pointless to be living in two separate places. They still did though, mostly due to fear felt by both of them that moving in together after three months was a little too fast. So, they were content on clearing out a couple drawers in their dressers to make room for the other's things.

Sara finished putting away the groceries and noticed Nick was staring at her.

"What?"

"Nothin'," he grinned. He walked over to her and placed his hands on her waist, guiding her backwards and pinning her against the fridge.

"So," he said, placing gentle kisses along her neck. "Since our cases last night were such a breeze…"

"Yeah…"

"You must still have a lot of energy…" he said in between kisses.

"Well, I did have to swab twelve beer bottles…and then there was that bloody shirt…oh and those shoe prints in the mud, casting those were tricky," she rambled. She loved teasing him when he was like this.

His lips had made it to the other side of her neck, and his hands had found their way up the back of her shirt.

"Oh, and after…"

"Sara!" he looked up.

"Well you wanted to know," she smiled at him. His lips met hers, which marked the point of no return as far as Nick was concerned.

"Um, Nick," Sara said in between breaths.

"Mmm."

"Need I remind you what happened the last time we tried this in here? The maple syrup disaster?"

"Hey, I helped clean you up," he smiled mischievously, remembering the sugar high that had given him.

Without another word he pulled her toward the bedroom, never taking his lips off her, Sara already reaching for the zipper on Nick's pants.

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Sara sat on the unmade bed and laced up her boots. "You're gonna be late," she said to Nick, who was in the bathroom shaving. While she was completely dressed, Nick was clad in only his boxers.

"I'm going as fast as I can. What do you want me to do, slice an artery?" he joked.

She joined him at the bathroom mirror to check her hair once more before leaving. "And mess up that handsome face? Never," she said as she gingerly kissed him, being careful not to get any shaving cream on her.

"And I hope you're not wearing that shirt you laid out on the bed," she playfully chided as she walked out of the bedroom.

"What's wrong with it? It's my favorite one," he whimpered to himself.

Sara hurried out the door and headed for work. Since their relationship was still a secret, they made it a habit to always leave at separate times if they spent the day or night together. They always arrived in separate cars at separate times to avoid any suspicions.

They both thought it would be best to keep their relationship a secret, at least in the beginning, in case things didn't work out. They did a good job of it; despite being one of the top crime labs in the nation, nobody suspected anything. Even more surprising was that they didn't find it very difficult to hide their relationship. They were both so dedicated to their work that they always gave their full attention to their cases, leaving little time to think about each other.

Fortunately, their relationship had progressed enough that they both knew they were well past the point where they had to worry if things were going to work out between them. But just like the issue of moving in together, they hadn't really discussed when they were going to go public about their relationship. They knew they definitely wanted to let everyone know; they didn't think it was fair to sneak around on some of their closest friends. Still, their relationship had moved so quickly that they hadn't really had time to think about these kinds of things, let alone decide what they wanted to do.

Once Sara arrived at the lab she headed straight for the break room and the coffee machine. She realized her morning "activities" with Nick had left her extremely tired.

Catherine and Warrick were already there, and noticed Sara make a beeline for the coffee machine.

"Uh, morning Sara," Catherine said when Sara ignored them.

"Oh, hey, morning."

"Don't tell me you were up all day listening to the scanner again," Warrick joked.

Sara gave him one of her looks.

"Hot date then?" Catherine smiled.

"Can't I just be tired?" Sara quipped.

Catherine and Warrick exchanged glances. Before Catherine could respond, Grissom came bumbling in, looking disheveled as usual.

"Cath, Sara, dead showgirl. DFO'd in the middle of a performance," Grissom said, getting right down to business. "Warrick, you and I have to review the Jefferson murder-suicide case. The DA wants to meet with us first thing tomorrow morning." He paused when he realized he had one assignment slip left and nobody else to give it to. "Where's Nick?"

"Right here boss," Nick said entering the break room and grabbing the assignment slip from Grissom's hand. "What'd I pull?" he asked as he looked over the slip.

"Trick roll, Shady Palms Motel, just off the Strip," Grissom informed him.

"Aw, man," Nick groaned, disappointed that he didn't get a more exciting case.

"That's what you get for being late, man," Warrick teased as he headed out the door.

Nick smirked. "Any moron who goes to a motel called 'Shady' deserves to be robbed."

Catherine smiled and gave Nick a playful pat on the shoulder. "Did you cut yourself shaving?" she asked.

Embarrassed, Nick quickly removed the tiny wad of toilet paper he remembered he still had under his jaw. He looked at Sara, who just smiled at him as she followed Catherine out.

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While Catherine stayed behind to finish processing their scene, Sara headed back to the lab to get to work. After dropping off DNA samples to Greg, she took a detour to the break room to grab a drink before going to see Dr. Robbins. She was searching the fridge for a bottle of water when she heard familiar footsteps behind her.

"Hey," Nick greeted her, coming only as close as a co-worker would.

"Hi," she said as she found a bottle and shut the fridge.

"How's the case going?" Nick asked, pouring himself some coffee.

"Good."

Nick quickly looked around to make sure nobody was within hearing distance. "Good as in 'I won't have to pull a double and I'll see you after shift'?" he said in a low voice.

"I think so," she smiled. Sara was a little surprised at Nick's flirtiness at work, even though they weren't actually working at the moment. They usually tried to steer clear of any kind of behavior that might tempt them, even when they were taking a break.

"Hey Nick," Warrick said as he entered the break room.

"What's up?"

"I think Eva is finally over you," Warrick said, grabbing the coffee pot from Nick and pouring himself a cup.

"Huh?" Nick replied, trying not to look embarrassed in front of Sara.

"I just ran into her. We're having dinner this weekend. I guess she finally gave up on you. You snooze, you lose, man." Warrick sounded triumphant.

"Who's Eva?" Sara asked, amused but not at all jealous. She trusted Nick and knew she had nothing to worry about.

"She started working nights in QD a couple months ago," Warrick explained. "She kept asking Nick out but this genius kept saying no for some reason. She finally asks me tonight, and reasonable man that I am, I accept."

"She's more your type anyway." Nick made up an excuse.

"Right. Just like Courtney was, huh? And that hot honey from days who used to work in ballistics, what was her name?" Warrick joked.

"Uh, don't you have work to do?" Nick tried to change the subject.

"Naw, me and Gris finished awhile ago."

"Then you're still here because…"

"I just told you. I ran into Eva. Man, weren't you listening?" Warrick said as his cell phone let out a little chirp. "It's Brass," he said, reading the page and re-clipping the phone to his belt. "I'm out. You might want to grab another cup of coffee," he said to Nick. "If you can't even remember Eva…" he sighed, shaking his head as he walked out.

Nick just smiled at Sara, unsure of what she was thinking.

Amused by the whole thing, Sara merely smiled back. "I'll see you later, loverboy," she said as she headed out the door.

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Nick's eyes blinked open. The big green numbers on the alarm clock said it was just past noon. He rolled over to see a peacefully sleeping Sara tangled up in the bed sheets. Realizing he was thirsty, he carefully got up and headed for the kitchen. He smiled to himself as he followed the trail of clothes from the bedroom floor and saw it started at the front door with boots and jackets.

He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and took several big gulps as he walked back to the bedroom, almost tripping on his twisted up pair of jeans lying in the middle of the floor. He put the bottle on the nightstand and climbed back into bed, propping himself on one elbow to face Sara. As he watched her body gently rise and fall with each rhythmic breath, he realized she looked even more beautiful – if that was even possible – when she was sleeping. He reached over to brush her hair away from her face, and her eyelids fluttered open.

"Hey," she smiled up at him.

"Hey gorgeous."

"What are you doing up?"

"Thinking."

"About what?"

"About how beautiful you are."

"And you're losing sleep over that?" she teased.

"Well I was also thinking about something else," he replied.

"What?"

"That I love you."

She looked at him, taking a second to process what he had just told her. It was the first time either of them had used the "L" word.

Nick looked backed at her, waiting for her response. From her expression, he couldn't tell if what he had just said was a good thing or a bad thing.

After a few seconds she smiled. "I love you too," she whispered.

He kissed her gently on the lips. "And I want everyone to know," he said.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course." He was tired of sneaking around the lab, like their relationship was something to be ashamed of.

"Even Greg?" she smiled.

"Even Greg." He kissed her again, realizing how disappointed their favorite lab tech would be.

As Sara lay in bed wrapped in Nick's arms, she couldn't stop smiling. She couldn't believe that she had just said 'I love you' to Nick. Well she could believe it – she meant it – but she never expected their relationship to progress so quickly and feel so perfect. She had dated (if you could call it that) Hank for almost a year and the thought of love had never entered her mind. Of course he turned out to be a total jerk, so she was glad it didn't. But she knew Nick was nothing like Hank. The past three months were the happiest months she'd had in a really long time. And it was all because of Nick.

As Nick held Sara in his arms, he couldn't stop smiling. He was so glad that he finally found the courage to tell Sara that he loved her. And the fact that the feeling was mutual made him even happier. He was falling in love with her after just their first date, but it took him three months to finally realize it. But better late than never, he thought. He pulled Sara closer and drifted off to sleep, dreaming about how wonderful it would be to tell the world he was in love with Sara Sidle.


	2. Out of the Bag

A/N: Of course there's more, you sillies. I can see how well people read author's notes... ;-) (At least nine chapters, for those of you who missed it)

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Chapter 2 – Out of the Bag

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Nick and Sara drove to work together for the first time, butterflies in both their stomachs. The butterflies weren't from fear of how their co-workers would react – they knew the team would support them and be happy for them – but rather from excitement about sharing the news with their friends.

They were so excited about telling everyone that they had actually arrived early, and nobody saw them get out of the same car. They decided to duck into the locker room to collect their thoughts before heading to the break room.

Nick calmly leaned against the bay of lockers and smiled as he watched Sara paced back and forth.

"Hey," he finally said.

"What?" she said, not looking up as she continued pacing.

"Sara." He reached out to stop her as she walked past him. "Relax," he smiled.

"Sorry." She smiled back.

He pulled her towards him and gave her a gentle kiss. "There's nothing to worry about."

"I know."

"I know you know," he smiled. As he kissed her again, the door to the locker room swung open.

Nick and Sara broke their kiss to see Warrick standing in the doorway with his mouth hung open. Before anyone could do or say anything, a voice sounded from behind Warrick.

"Hey Warrick, usually when people open doors, they keep walking, they don't just-" Catherine stopped mid-sentence when she saw why Warrick was standing there.

"Uh, we can come back," Warrick finally managed to say something.

"I'd rather stay," Catherine said as she crossed her arms and leaned up against the doorframe, wanting to here the details of why Nick and Sara were in this compromising situation.

Nick and Sara finally let go of each other.

"Look guys, uh, we were gonna tell you," Nick said.

"Tell us what?!" Warrick still hadn't fully registered what he just saw.

"Well I think it's obvious," Catherine said sarcastically.

"You knew about this?" Warrick turned to Catherine.

"What? No!"

"We just wanted to wait awhile before we told everyone," Sara started to explain.

"Well how long as it been?" Catherine asked.

"About three months," Sara answered.

"Three months? You guys have been sneaking around for three whole months?" Catherine couldn't believe it.

"Sorry," Sara apologized.

"How did we miss that? Even when we knew it was gonna happen eventually…" Catherine muttered.

"Huh?" Nick said, confused at Catherine's comment.

"Oh c'mon, you guys have been flirting since day one!"

Nick and Sara just looked at her, and then at Warrick.

"Don't look at me, I don't know what she's talking about," Warrick said defensively. "Hey, is that why you turned down Eva? And Courtney? And-"

"Okay, Warrick, thank you, we get it," Nick interjected.

"So when were you planning on telling us?" Catherine asked.

"Uh, today actually," Nick replied.

"Well I guess we just did half the work for you," Warrick said.

"Yeah, but not the easy half. We have to tell Griss and Greg."

"That's right. I forgot about Greg."

"Oh, Cath, Warrick," Grissom stopped when he saw the two CSI's standing in the locker room doorway. "406 in Henderson. Something about a family heirloom, porcelain elephant or something. Are Nick and Sara here yet?"

Warrick pointed inside the locker room.

"419 out at Lake Mead. Brass is already there." Grissom reached passed Catherine and Warrick to hand Sara the assignment slip. "I'll be in my office all night. Paperwork," he sighed. And as quickly as he came, he was gone.

"Well I need some coffee before we go," Sara said. "You want?" she turned to Nick.

"No, I'm good."

"I could use some," Catherine said, and the two ladies left for the break room.

"So you and Sara?" Warrick said as he opened his locker.

"Yeah. What can I say, I love her," Nick replied.

"Really? Wow, I didn't know you guys were that serious."

"Yeah. These past few months have been so crazy. I mean, good crazy. I haven't felt this way about someone in a long time. Hell, I don't know if I've ever felt this way about anyone before."

"Well that's great man, congrats. And you know they don't come any better than Sara," Warrick said as he shut his locker and headed out.

"Yeah, I know," Nick said quietly, realizing how lucky he was.

Nick left the locker room to find Sara. As he approached the break room he watched her through the glass, talking with Catherine and smiling her toothy grin that he loved so much.

"You ready to hit the road?" he asked as he entered.

"Yep."

"I'll see you two lovebirds later," Catherine smiled as she left to find Warrick.

"Do you think we should tell Grissom before we leave?" Sara asked Nick.

"Might as well. Get it out of the way."

Nick knocked on Grissom's door as he and Sara entered. "Hey Griss, can we talk to you a second?"

"If you make it quick. Brass is already waiting for you at the lake," he said, not looking up from the files he was shuffling through.

"Right. Well we just wanted to let you know that, um, well since you're our supervisor, we thought you should know, uh..."

"Spit it out, Nick."

"Nick and I are dating," Sara blurted out.

Grissom finally stopped shuffling through his paperwork and looked up, staring silently at Nick and Sara over the rim of his glasses. The two CSI's stared back at him, unsure if he was upset or happy or just didn't hear what Sara had said.

"And?" Grissom finally spoke.

"Well we thought you should know," Nick said, still unsure of what Grissom was thinking.

Grissom went back to his paperwork as if what they had just told him meant nothing. "What you two do on your own time is your own business."

"Oh. Okay," Nick replied, uncertainty lingering in his voice.

Grissom looked up. "Look, I appreciate you telling me, but I trust you're smart enough to keep your work and personal life separate."

"Right. We will," Nick said.

Grissom returned his attention to his desk. "I know."

"Uh, thanks," Sara quickly added as she and Nick left his office.

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"Penny for your thoughts?" Nick glanced at Sara. They were almost to the lake and Sara hadn't said anything for the entire ride.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing," she said, hoping he would leave it at that but knew he wouldn't.

"Sara." Nick's tone was scolding but not harsh.

She waited a few seconds. "It's just that once we tell everyone, I'm gonna feel more self-conscious. Especially around you."

"What? Why?"

"Well people will look at us differently. They'll expect us to act differently. I mean, sure, Grissom is fine with it, but-"

Nick reached over to stroke her cheek. "Hey, calm down," he soothed. "It'll be fine. Sure, there'll be people like Ecklie, people who stir up trouble just because they can, but those guys are jerks, and everyone knows that. We'll be okay."

"Well I don't know about you, but I'm not very good at office romances. Remember what happened with Hank and that high profile movie star murder case?"

Nick cringed at the mention of that asshole. "You didn't do anything wrong. You know that. Besides, why should we care what other people think? We love each other, that's all that matters."

"I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right." He reached for her hand and kissed it, holding it the rest of the way.

Nick and Sara arrived at the lake and processed the scene, their conversation in the car completely forgotten as they focused on their work. They finished quickly and drove back to the lab.

They walked down the hall and followed the sound of muffled rock music to the DNA lab. As they approached, they saw Greg, his back turned to them, headbanging away as he cleaned up his benchtop.

Nick opened the door and Sara immediately went to the stereo and turned it off, causing Greg to spin around on his heels.

"Oh, hey guys. I didn't hear you come in."

Nick and Sara just gave him a look.

"So what do you have for me?" Greg asked.

"A couple of blood samples we need compared. And an empty pill box. Has some residue in it. We need to find out what was in it," Nick explained.

"Will do," Greg said, taking the samples.

"Thanks."

Sara pushed the eject button on the stereo to open the CD tray. She read the label on the CD. "Incubus?"

"Yeah, it's their new album. I just got it yesterday. You can borrow it sometime if you want," Greg replied eagerly.

"Thanks, maybe later," Sara smiled.

"Okay."

Nick and Sara looked at each other, knowing they would have to tell Greg eventually.

"Uh, Greg, there's something we have to tell you," Nick said, already feeling bad about what they were going to tell him.

"Don't worry, no headbanging while I'm preparing your samples. C'mon, give me some credit," Greg joked.

"No, it's not about that," Nick said.

"Well what then?"

"Sara and I wanted to let you know that we're dating. Well we've been dating."

"Oh," was all Greg could muster as he tried to hide his disappointment. When Sara was dating Hank he wasn't too worried because he knew Hank was a douchebag anyway and it wouldn't last. But Nick was different. He was a friend, and a good guy.

"We kept it quiet for awhile but we decided it was time to let everyone know," Sara explained.

"Oh. Okay. We'll that's cool. I'm happy for you guys," Greg said. He leaned his elbow on the benchtop and accidentally nudged a tray of reagents over the edge, sending little plastic bottles bouncing across the floor and causing Greg to scramble after them before they rolled under the lab freezer.

Nick and Sara couldn't help but smile as they turned to leave.

"Hey Sara," Greg said as he got up from the floor.

Sara turned.

"If Nick ever changes his mind, you know where to find me," Greg joked, trying to prove he was okay with the situation.

"I'll keep that in mind," she smiled.

"God, I feel so bad," Sara said as soon as they turned the corner and were out of Greg's sight.

"He'll be fine," Nick assured her.

"Yeah I know, but still," Sara said.

"What, you'd rather date him then?" Nick teased.

"Don't tempt me," she teased back.


	3. Case of the Ex

Chapter 3 – Case of the Ex

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Nick and Sara arrived at their crime scene and headed into the house looking for Brass.

"Where's Brass?" Nick asked an officer at the door when they didn't see him.

"Had to take another call," the officer answered.

"So who's here?" Sara asked.

"Uh, new DT.  Just started a couple days ago."

"Rookie?" Sara asked, a little dismayed.

"No.  Just transferred from Phoenix."

"So where is he?" Sara asked, getting impatient.

"She," the officer corrected as he looked around.  "Over there.  The one with the legs," he pointed.

Nick and Sara looked in the direction the officer was pointing and noticed a tall, slender blonde woman wearing a light gray skirt suit, her back turned to them.

"Detective," Sara called out to her as they approached.

The detective turned, and Nick stopped dead in his tracks.  "Liv?"

The detective smiled warmly.  "Nick."

"What are you doing here?" Nick asked, shocked to see the woman before him.

"I transferred back."

"Wow, it's been what, six years?"

"Just about."

"You forgot I lived here?" Nick smiled.

"No, I remembered," she smiled back.

"Where's the body?" Sara interrupted.  She wasn't sure if she was more upset that they were wasting time or that Nick was flirting with an old flame or whoever she was.

"Upstairs bathroom.  Cynthia Kelly, 39.  Husband is out of town on business.  Eight-year-old son, Cole, found his mother and called 911.  Smart kid.  Oh, I'm Olivia Mancini, by the way," she introduced herself to Sara.

"Sara Sidle." Sara forced a polite smile.

"Mancini?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, I got married," Olivia replied.

"Oh?" Nick tried not to sound too surprised.

"And divorced," she continued.  "About two years later."

"Oh."

"Too much trouble to change my name back again," Olivia explained.

"So detective now, huh?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, for about three years now."

"Where are the stairs?" Sara asked, getting more annoyed that they were wasting time.

"That way, around the corner," Olivia pointed.

"Thanks," Nick smiled awkwardly at Olivia as he turned to follow Sara, who was already several steps ahead of him.

They processed the scene, mostly in silence, which didn't worry Nick too much.  While some CSI's liked to talk out their theories as they collected evidence, Sara usually kept to herself, her thoughts churning away inside that brilliant mind of hers.  Nick stole glances at her to see if she was upset about his 'reunion' with Olivia, but he couldn't tell if her grim face and wrinkled brow were from being upset at him or from concentrating on the evidence she was collecting.  He figured it was the latter.  Sara was too professional to think about anything but work while she was working.

When they finished they packed up their gear and drove back to the lab.  Sara hadn't spoken to him the entire time they were processing, and she was still silent as they drove.  Nick decided to say something.

"Sara, Liv and I-"

"You don't have to explain," she interrupted in an even tone, her face expressionless as she continued to stare out the window, avoiding his eyes.

"I want to.  You're upset."

"I'm not upset."

"Sara."

Silence.

"Liv and I dated when I first came to Vegas.  For about a year and a half.  We broke up and she transferred.  But not because of me.  Well not entirely.  It was kinda complicated," Nick explained.  "But all of that is in the past, okay?  I promise."

Silence.

"Okay?" Nick repeated.

"Okay," Sara replied in a tone a little more forceful then she'd intended.  She wasn't really sure why she was upset in the first place.  Was this jealousy she was feeling?  She knew Nick's reputation as a womanizing playboy was highly inflated, but surely she should have realized that he probably dated his fair share of women from the lab as well as the police department.  Nick was a charmer, and women in the department weren't stupid; they knew a good man when they saw one.  She of all people should have known that.

Nick didn't feel like arguing with Sara, especially when they were on a case.  He decided to let it go for now.  Besides, he didn't think he had anything to be sorry for anyway.  What, he wasn't allowed to have ex-girlfriends?  While he did think it was cute that Sara was jealous, he hated when she got upset with him.  The hardheaded woman sure knew how to hold a grudge.

Back at the lab, Nick and Sara proceeded to work on their case.  Sara quickly forgot about Olivia as she focused on her work.

"Hey Sar, Greg has our DNA results," Nick poked his head in the room just long enough to get her attention, and then continued down the hall.

She got up from her computer and headed for the DNA lab.  When she got there she found Nick arguing with Greg, Warrick and Catherine.

"Who'd you page first?" Nick asked.

"You," Greg answered.

"But I got here first," Warrick protested.

"My case is hotter," Nick reasoned.

"Well whose results are those in your hand?" Catherine interrupted, trying to break up the argument.

"Nick and Sara's," Greg answered.

"Well then hurry up and give it to them so we can get on with this," Catherine said, causing Warrick to let out an angry sigh.

Sara looked at Catherine, wondering what was going on.  Catherine only rolled her eyes.

"Well I ran the blood from the knife.  Not the vic's," Greg turned to Nick and Sara.

"Well we already assumed that, she didn't have any wounds consistent with a knife injury," Sara said.

"Let me finish," Greg scolded her.  "But I did get a hit off CODIS," he continued.

"And?" Sara asked, getting impatient.

"Steven Kelly," Greg replied.

"The husband?"  Nick wondered.  "I thought he was supposed to be out of town?"

Greg shrugged.

"Why was he in CODIS?" Nick asked.

"Sexual assault, back in 95," Greg answered.

"Okay.  Thanks.  I'll find Liv, see if we can track this guy down," Nick said as he turned to leave.

"Liv?" Greg asked.

"Yeah, uh, Olivia Mancini, new detective, just transferred from Phoenix," Nick replied, embarrassed that he unconsciously used her nickname.

"Nicknames already?" Greg teased.

Sara rolled her eyes.  "I'll be in trace," she announced with a tinge of anger in her voice as she turned to leave.

Nick glared at Greg.

"What was that about?" Catherine asked.

Nick sighed.  "Remember Olivia Traverson, we dated for awhile when I first came to Vegas?"

Warrick stared up at the ceiling, trying to remember.  "Man, there were so many..." he muttered, causing Catherine to giggle.  "The blonde?  With the legs?" he suddenly realized as he looked at Nick.

"Yeah," Nick smirked.

"She's back?  And she's married?" Warrick asked.

"Divorced," Nick replied.

"Blonde?  Single?" Greg perked up with a grin, only to be met with a playful slap on the arm from Catherine.

"And I take it Sara knows about your history with her," Warrick stated the obvious.

"I don't know why she's so upset.  That was all such a long time ago," Nick sighed.

"Don't worry, she'll come around," Catherine patted Nick sympathetically on the shoulder.  "Eventually," she added with a smile, realizing they were talking about Sara, who was second only to Catherine herself when it came to holding a grudge.

"Yeah, I guess.  Thanks," Nick replied as he headed out to find Sara.  As he was walking past the break room he saw her at the coffee machine.

"Hey," his voice was tentative as he approached her.

"Hodges hasn't gotten to our samples yet," she told him.

"Sara-"

"I'm fine Nick, can we just drop it for now and focus on the case?" Sara interrupted him.

Nick looked at her, knowing full well that she wasn't fine.  "Sara, you gotta tell me what's wrong.  It's not gonna do either of us any good if we try and work like this."

"I said it's nothing," she finished stirring the sugar into her coffee and tossed the stick in the trash as her phone chirped.  "It's Hodges," she said as she read the page and headed out, leaving Nick behind.

Nick sighed as he watched her leave.  He decided to give up on trying to figure out what was going on with Sara, at least until shift was over.  He realized the whole thing was probably bothering him more than it was her.  Sure, she was angry, but she didn't dwell on it and she kept her mind off of it by doing what she was supposed to be doing, working on the case.  Nick decided that he'd better do the same, so he went to find Olivia to tell her about the DNA results.

--------------------

Shift was finally over, their case was solved, and both Nick and Sara made it through the night without further difficulties.  They were both heading towards the locker room when they ran into Olivia in the hallway.

"Nice job on the case you guys," Olivia smiled.

"Thanks," Nick replied.

"You got any plans?  You wanna grab breakfast, catch up?" Olivia asked Nick.

"Uh…" Nick panicked, not daring to turn his head to see Sara's reaction.

"Oh, just to catch up.  I mean, as friends.  I'm sure you must be involved with someone, I didn't meant to-" Olivia explained.

"No, no, it's okay," Nick interrupted.  "I mean I am, but-"

"Look, never mind.  Just forget I said anything.  It's probably not a good idea anyway."

"It's okay, I don't mind," Sara spoke up.

Olivia stared at her, and then turned to Nick.

"Sara and I are dating," Nick explained the obvious.

"Oh, I didn't realize.  Sorry," Olivia apologized.

"It's okay, really.  You two should catch up," Sara said.

"You're welcome to come too," Olivia offered.

"No, you two probably have things to talk about."

"You sure?" Nick looked at Sara, surprised by her sudden change of heart with regards to Olivia.

"Yeah," she said, giving him a quick kiss.  "I'll see you later."

"Okay."

"It was nice to meet you, Olivia," Sara smiled as she left.

"You too," Olivia replied.

Nick smiled awkwardly as the two stood in the hallway.  "So, breakfast?"

"Sure," Olivia said.

Sara drove home with a smile, proud of what she had just done.  Over the course of the night, she realized why she was upset with Nick.  And it was actually a very good reason; in fact, it was probably better that she did get upset.  It made her realize something very important about her relationship with Nick. She decided to drive to his house and wait for him there; she couldn't wait to tell him.


	4. Moving On

Chapter 4 – Moving On

----------------------------------------------

Sara woke up to the sensation of Nick's lips on her cheek.  "Hi," she smiled up at him as she opened her eyes.

"You know, the bed's a lot more comfortable than the couch," he teased.

"I guess I fell asleep."  She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she swung her legs onto the floor to let Nick sit down.  "How was breakfast with Olivia?"

"Good."

"That's good," she smiled.

"I'm a little confused though…" he looked at her.

"About my Jekyll and Hyde act?"

"Yeah," he smiled.

"I can explain."

"I'm all ears."

"Well first I guess I should apologize for acting like a bitchy-"

"Stubborn, immature," Nick interrupted with a grin.

"…jealous girlfriend," Sara finished with a smirk.

"Apology accepted," Nick gave her a peck on the cheek.

"I'll admit that at first I was a little upset," she confessed.

Nick raised an eyebrow.

"Okay a lot upset," she corrected herself.  "But once I figured out why I was so upset, I realized that it was actually a good thing."

"It was..." Nick looked at her, not following.

"Yeah.  See, it wasn't so much that I was angry, it was that I was scared."

"Of what?"

"Of the possibility that I could lose you," Sara stared down at her lap, twiddling her thumbs, feeling a bit nervous.  She was never good at talking about stuff like this.  Mostly because she'd never had the need to, not until now.  She took a breath before continuing.  "I've never cared so much about someone to the point where the thought of losing them scared me.  But with you it did.  And that made me realize how much I really want to be with you.  And that made me happy, because I've never felt this way about anyone before, and it's like my life is going in the right direction, like I'm actually accomplishing something, and the fact that you're the reason for this happiness makes me love you even more.  Does that even make sense?" she looked up at as she wrinkled her nose, realizing she was babbling.  She had it all worked out in her head before, but it didn't come out as clear as she'd planned.

Nick smiled.  He'd never seen this side of Sara before.  The sweet, sensitive, girlie side.  While he loved the tough and sassy front she always put up, he couldn't deny that seeing this new side of her made her all the more sexier.  "I got the gist of it," he flashed his mega-watt grin as he leaned in to kiss her.

"I don't hate Olivia," Sara said after they broke apart.

"You don't have to force yourself to like her, you know.  I won't hold it against you," he smiled.

"I know.  But honestly, I don't.  Actually I really like her.  She seems like a great detective.  Did you see how she grilled that suspect?  It was awesome," Sara admired.

"Yeah.  She's actually a lot like you.  Tough, no-nonsense kind of person, dedicated to her work, smart, beautiful…" he teased with a playful glint in his eyes.

"You're lucky you're cute," Sara feigned anger.

"I do try," he grinned.

--------------------

Things at work went back to normal and Sara's minor blowup was quickly forgotten.  Neither Nick nor Sara even saw Olivia over the next several days, as they had been working with the other detectives.  Although, it wouldn't have mattered to Sara if they had been working with Olivia, because like she told Nick, she really did like her.  From the one case she saw Olivia work, Sara could tell that Olivia was a lot like herself, just like Nick said.  She was hard working and had a sharp mind; she had sometimes drawn conclusions even faster than Sara had.

So, Sara was actually a little excited when she finally got to work with Olivia again.  That night she was also working with Nick, which of course she always loved.  And to top it off, their case was bizarre and full of complexities, Sara's favorite kind of case.  Their investigation was taking them in all sorts of directions, and she loved trying to piece everything together.

"Hey Nick, what does this look like to you?" Sara asked as she peered into the microscope in front of her.

"Well all I see is a big head with silky chestnut hair that smells like lavender," he said from behind her.

Sara turned around and gave him a look as she stepped aside so he could look into the microscope.  "Chestnut?  And how do you even know what lavender smells like?"

"I don't.  Your shampoo bottle has purple flowers on it.  I figured it out myself.  I am a CSI you know."

"Yeah, well sometimes I wonder," she quipped.

"Hey guys, you'll never guess what I found out about Gina Kennedy," Olivia said as she walked into the room.

"The sister-in-law?" Sara asked.

"No, that's Jeri.  Gina's the cousin, the nurse." Nick corrected her.

"She's the ex-wife, the yoga instructor," Olivia corrected both of them.

"Oh, right," Sara remembered.  How did Olivia keep track of them all?

"Anyway," Olivia continued, "I found out the yoga thing is just her day job.  Nights she works as a waitress at The White Note."

"What's The White Note?" Sara asked.

"It's this restaurant slash karaoke bar kind of place," Nick answered as he looked at Olivia and then smiled.

"Don't think I'd forget something like that," Olivia teased with a smile of her own.

"What?" Sara was clueless.

"Uh, it was kind of a special place," Nick replied.

"What, like your first date?" Sara asked.

"Uh, no, not exactly," Olivia smiled knowingly at Nick.

"So, what was important about Gina Kennedy?" Nick snapped back from his trip down memory lane when he noticed Sara looked a little uncomfortable.

"Guess who used to be bartender there?" Olivia asked.

"Our victim?" Nick guessed.

"Nope."

"Trent Grey?" Sara asked.

"Trent Grey," Olivia said.

"Even better," Nick said.

"I was thinking of heading over there right now to pay Mr. Grey a visit," Olivia told them.  "You coming?"

"Absolutely," Nick replied for both himself and Sara.

"I'm gonna check if we tracked down the victim's missing BMW first, I'll meet you guys there," Olivia said as she headed out.

Nick looked at Sara to see if she was upset.  She stared back at him for a second before a small smile crept to her lips, indicating she was okay.

"Maybe after shift we can go back to The White Note and re-christen it as our own special place," Nick teased suggestively.

Sara smiled and rolled her eyes.  "Is that all you ever think about?" she teased back.

"Only about every minute I'm with you," he grinned, causing Sara to roll her eyes again as she turned to leave.

Nick, Sara and Olivia went to the restaurant but it proved to be a bust.  There only lead turned into a dead end and now they were back at square one.  They sat in the CSI break room, trying to figure out what to do next.

"Well the nurse had access to the medical supplies," Nick reasoned.

"Samantha?  But it doesn't make sense, she has no motive," Olivia said.

"And her prints weren't on the syringe, Jeri's were," Sara added.

"Although, her alibi was Rich Emerson…" Olivia realized.

"Jeri's ex-boyfriend," Nick finished.  "Which could only mean-"

"That both Phil and Rich were at the club when Angie was killed," Olivia replied.

Nick's brain continued churning.  "So Jeri's prints were on the syringe-"

"Because she had already come and gone before Phil even got there," Olivia said.

"But what about Gina?  Security cameras show her arriving with Angie," Nick pointed out.

"Yeah, but then she left ten minutes later-"

"To pick up Rich."  A light bulb clicked on in Nick's head.  "So the only way for Phil to know that Angie was alone-"

"Was that phone call from Gina," Olivia smiled triumphantly.

"Alrighty, let's go pick Ms. Kennedy and Mr. Emerson up," Nick smiled, satisfied that they had finally figured it out.  He noticed Sara didn't look half as excited as she should have been.  "You okay?  You agree with all of this, right?"

"Yeah," she replied with a small smile.  She had been silently watching Nick and Olivia as they talked everything out.  They were going so fast, finishing each other's sentences, that Sara was unable to get a word in.  She wasn't sure which bothered her more, the fact that she couldn't get a word in edgewise, or that Nick and Olivia were so in tune with each other, kind of like how she and Nick were.

"I'll call some of our guys to bring them in.  I'll call you when they get to PD," Olivia said as she left.

"You sure you're okay?" Nick asked Sara as soon as Olivia left.  "You were kinda quiet.  Usually we have to beat you with a stick to get you to shut up," Nick teased.

"Well it was kind of hard to get a word in with you two going at it," Sara teased back.

"Sorry.  I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay.  I'm fine," Sara smiled.  "She's pretty quick.  For a cop," Sara joked.

"Not as quick as you," Nick smiled as he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before getting up to leave.

--------------------

Nick woke to the soft murmur of voices.  Realizing the other side of the bed was empty, he got up and sauntered out to the living room.

"Sorry, was it too loud?" Sara asked without diverting her gaze from the TV.  She was in her pajamas, which were actually Nick's boxers and an old t-shirt of his, stretched out on the couch.

"No."

Sara retracted her legs to let Nick sit down and then restretched them out across his lap.

"How long have you been up?" he asked, trying not to sound too accusatory.  He knew Sara hated when he lectured her on her poor sleeping habits.

"I don't know, awhile," she replied, her eyes still fixed to the screen.

"Sara-"

"Sshh, Jack is about to tell Abby that they can't be together because they're really twins that were separated at birth," Sara shushed him.

Nick smiled as he watched Sara watch the soap opera.  He learned from experience that she didn't like to be talked to whenever she was watching.  He never understood how Sara, of all people, could like soap operas, but he was glad she at least had interests outside of law enforcement.  He waited until Jack finished his confession before speaking.  "Move in with me."

Sara finally took her eyes off the TV and looked at him, not really sure if she had heard him correctly.  "What?"

"Move in with me," he repeated.

"Nick, I don't know…"

"C'mon, you practically live here anyway."

"Is this about Olivia?  Because you don't have to prove anything, I already told you I-"

"This has nothing to do with Olivia.  It has to do with you and me.  And the fact that I love you and you love me."

Sara looked into his eyes and saw he meant what he said.  "Can I think about?"  Moving in with him sounded great, but she needed a little time to think it over, just to make sure.  She didn't want to rush into anything.

"Of course."

"Okay, I'm going back to bed," she said as she started to get up.

"To sleep?" Nick asked, a little surprised.

Sara smiled and raised an eyebrow at him.  The fact that Nick was sometimes a little slow to catch on was endearing.  "And I thought you said it was all you ever think about?" she teased as she got up and headed for the bedroom, with Nick not far behind her.


	5. Moving In

Chapter 5 – Moving In

----------------------------------------------

Sara sat at the break room table, filling out the form she had just picked up from Human Resources. Or was it called Employee Affairs now? Office of Employee Relations? They were always changing it.

"You moving?" Catherine asked when she saw what Sara was filling out.

"Yep."

"Why? Where to?" Catherine asked.

"Uh…" Sara glanced over at the coffee machine, where Nick was pouring two cups of coffee.

"Oh," Catherine realized. "Wow, things are going good I guess."

"Great," Sara smiled as she watched Nick approaching.

"You two talking about me?" he smiled as he handed Sara a cup of coffee.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Sara quipped. It didn't take long for her to realize that she was sure she wanted to move in with Nick. Of course there were the practical and economical reasons; like Nick said, she did spend most of her time at his place anyway. But the more important reason was simply that she wanted to be with him. She had never officially moved in with a guy before, but then again no other guy had made her feel the way she felt about Nick, so she knew moving in with him was the right thing to do.

"You bailing on us?" Warrick walked in and saw Sara's change of address form.

"Of course not," Sara replied.

"Get kicked out of your apartment? Neighbors complaining about excessive 'noise'?" Warrick looked at Nick.

Nick glared at him. "You know you're helping us move," he told Warrick.

"Yeah, we'll see about that," Warrick said.

"Hey Greg, are you busy next Saturday?" Sara asked as Greg walked in.

"Never busy enough to make time for you," he smiled, getting a look from Nick. "Uh, what's on Saturday?"

"I need help moving."

"You're moving?" Greg's face registered slight panic.

"In with Nick," she explained.

"Oh." Her explanation didn't really make him feel any better. While Nick was his friend and he was glad that Sara was happy, his crush on her would never completely go away. "Sure, I'll help."

"Thanks Greg," Sara smiled.

"See, now you don't need my help," Warrick said.

"Believe me, we will," Nick replied. "Do you know how much crap she has crammed into that tiny apartment?"

--------------------

Nick was right. She had way too much crap in her apartment. She blamed it on genetics. While she and her parents seemed like complete opposites in nearly every other aspect of their lives, she knew she inherited her packrat tendencies from them. She sighed at the site of the many boxes that filled her now bare bedroom, filled with forensic journals and old textbooks, even old term papers and reports from her college and graduate studies.

Sara removed the remaining clothes hanging in her closet and haphazardly shoved them in a box, still on their hangers. She hated packing. She knew she probably could have cut down the number of boxes she had used if she was a little more organized. But she didn't really care. Why was that? At work she was so meticulous and methodical, always having a perfect systematic approach to everything. But when it came to her personal life, she was the complete opposite. Her apartment was crowded and disorganized, and she could never manage to keep it clean, which was doubly strange since she barely spent enough time in it to get it dirty. She knew the hardest part about the move would be trying to adjust to living with neat freak Nick.

The doorbell interrupted Sara's thoughts. "Nick, can you get that?" she yelled out, knowing he was somewhere in the apartment.

"Hey guys, thanks for coming," Nick greeted as he let Warrick and Greg in.

"Damn, how much stuff does she have?" Warrick immediately noticed the living room was filled with boxes.

"Well there wouldn't be so many boxes if someone learned how to pack," Nick said as he saw Sara walk into the living room.

"Why would I waste my time trying to pack everything so perfectly when I'm just going to have to unpack it all again?" Sara reasoned. She dropped a box on the floor and headed back to the bedroom.

Nick rolled his eyes. "And this isn't even all of it. There's more back in the bedrooms."

"Well I guess we better get started then," Greg said as he picked up a box and headed out to the trucks.

"What are you doing with all her furniture?" Warrick asked Nick as he picked up a box.

"I don't know, probably sell most of it. Her lease doesn't end for a couple weeks so we have some time before we have to get it out of here. Do you need a couch?" Nick gestured toward Sara's vibrantly colored couch.

"As much as I do love the color red, a red couch isn't really my style. Besides, the walls in my living room are green. Not exactly a good combination. Unless I want it to feel like Christmas everyday," Warrick said as he carried the box out the front door.

"Who buys a red couch anyway?" Nick asked himself as he grabbed a box and followed Warrick out.

Between the four of them, they managed to move all of Sara's boxes in one trip.

"Are you gonna have room for all this stuff?" Warrick asked Nick as they carried boxes into Nick's house.

"Doubtful," Nick replied, letting out a grunt as he placed the boxes on the living room floor. "I might have to secretly dump a couple boxes of those old journals. Like she's ever gonna read those again anyway."

"I heard that," Sara said as she walked through the door, boxes in arms.

"Well it's true."

Sara glared at him and continued on her way to the bedroom. Warrick gave Nick a look, who merely shrugged and headed out for more boxes.

"You need a hand with that, G?" Nick asked as Greg was coming up the walkway, having obvious difficulty balancing the three boxes he was carrying.

"No, I got it, thanks." He carefully made his way up the steps and barely made it through the front door when he tripped and sent the boxes tumbling to the floor. The box on the top of his stack had opened and some of its contents had spilled out.

Greg's eyes went wide when he saw the items on the floor. He looked up at Warrick, who was trying hard not to laugh.

"Dude, you better put those back in the box before Sara sees," Warrick advised.

Greg didn't know exactly what they were; they were kind of crumpled up. But he could tell they were silky and definitely very lacy. He scrambled to his feet and hurriedly threw the silky garments back in the box. He'd had many fantasies about Sara and her undergarments, but now was not the time to be thinking about them with Sara in the next room and Nick outside.

"What are you doing Greg?" Sara raised an eyebrow at him as she emerged from the bedroom and saw him holding her lingerie.

"Uh…I uh…I tripped and um…" he stammered. "It was Warrick's fault," he blurted.

"Hey!" Warrick protested.

"Greg, would you mind not putting the boxes right in front of the doorway?" Nick said as he stood just outside the door. "Well what do we have here?" he smiled playfully when he noticed the gathering and the garments in Greg's hand.

"I was just telling Greg that maybe I'd do some modeling for him later, as a thank you for helping me move. A little private show," she winked at Greg as she snatched the lingerie from his hand and took it along with the box back to the bedroom.

"Am I invited too?" Warrick called out as Sara disappeared into the room.

--------------------

After a few hours of relaxing with pizza and beer, the guys left for work. Sara was glad to have the night off so she could unpack and get settled in. She enjoyed the night silence as she worked. It was almost too quiet; she was used to noisy upstairs neighbors stomping around, music blaring from next door, screaming kids running down the hallway outside her front door. She knew she was going to love living in a house.

She worked until almost one in the morning, unpacking what she could. She'd have to wait until Nick got home to figure out what to do with her books and journals that didn't fit on Nick's bookshelves. She plopped herself on the couch and turned on the TV, deciding she'd relax for a while. The next thing she knew she was being awakened by the sound of jingling keys and the closing of the front door. She propped herself up on her elbows and peered over the back of the couch towards the front door, trying to adjust her eyes to the sunlight filtering in through the blinds.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were sleeping. On the couch. Again," Nick smiled as he came over and planted a kiss on the top of her head.

"I wasn't sleeping," Sara protested as she sat up.

Nick just rolled his eyes as he sat down next to her. "You hungry?"

She shook her head. "Just tired," she yawned.

"Because you weren't sleeping just now?" Nick teased.

"Right," she smiled.

"Well do you wanna try sleeping in a bed this time? _Our_ bed?" Nick rose from the couch and offered her his hand.

"I'd love to." She took his hand and followed him to the bedroom.

--------------------

Having already slept during the night, Sara didn't sleep very much longer. She awoke at noon and quietly slipped out of bed, letting Nick sleep. Her grumbling stomach drew her to the kitchen. She opened the fridge but found that, as usual, it was practically empty. She checked the cupboards but found nothing she could eat; she wasn't that starving that she'd resort to eating beef jerky or a can of chili. Did he ever go shopping by himself or did he just wait for her to do it? She always seemed to be the one restocking his kitchen.

After a quick shower she headed for the market. An hour later she returned to a silent house, Nick still sound asleep. A giant bowl of cereal and a tall glass of extra pulpy orange juice finally quieted her stomach. She was well rested and in a great mood, and now that she was fed she decided she'd attempt to cook something for Nick before he woke up.

Meat was out of the question; while she didn't mind if Nick ate it in front of her, there was no way she was going to look at raw meat, let alone actually touch it and have to slice it up and cook it. She decided on pasta, because it was Nick's favorite non-meat food and it was one of the things she was pretty sure she couldn't screw up.

It wasn't that she was a bad cook or an inexperienced one, just an out of practice one. Most of the time she was just too busy to cook, but it didn't mean that she didn't know how. Growing up around a bed and breakfast had given her plenty of opportunities to learn, and her parents made sure they used every one of them to teach their daughter to cook. So she learned, and realized she would never be a gourmet chef, but she knew enough to get by.

She started a pot of water to boil the pasta (rotini, her favorite, because it was the funnest shape to eat) and quickly became absorbed in her cooking, humming to herself as she chopped, stirred, sautéed and simmered, her spirits dampened only temporarily when the onions stung her eyes. Just as she was finishing up she heard the shower running, and a few minutes later a showered and shaved Nick came wandering into the kitchen. When he saw what she was doing he just stared at her.

"What?" she continued stirring, not looking up but knowing he was staring.

"You're cooking."

"Yeah?"

"Since when do you cook?"

"Since always," she smirked.

Nick raised an eyebrow. Whenever they ate in together, Nick was always the one to don the chef's hat. Sara was lucky that Nick's parents forced all seven of their children to learn how to cook, because without him she'd still be living off of pizza and takeout.

"What? I cook. Sometimes. When I have time. Which unfortunately I just don't have a lot of. So my culinary skills never get to shine."

Nick continued to stare at her, still somewhat shocked.

"Hey, it's impossible not to learn when your parents own a B and B."

"It smells good," Nick said as he wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her neck before resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Thank you," she smiled. "Go sit. It's almost done."

"Yes ma'am," Nick replied with a playful salute as he sat down at the kitchen table and flipped through the newspaper.

Sara set a plateful of pasta in front of Nick and stood, waiting for him to taste it.

"Should I be scared?" he stared at the steaming plate of pasta before him. "Oww," he whined when Sara knocked him in the back of the head. He picked up his fork and stabbed at his food, blowing on the speared pasta and vegetables to cool them down before putting them in his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully for a few seconds.

"Well?" Sara was getting impatient.

"Wow. This is really good," Nick said as he took another bite.

"Really?" Sara was actually a little surprised.

"Yeah," Nick replied, his mouth full. He held up a forkful of pasta for Sara and she ate it.

"Wow, this _is_ good," she said as she chewed. "Go me," she complimented herself.

"Thank you," Nick got up from his chair and gave Sara a kiss.

"You're welcome," she smiled. She turned and headed for the living room.

"Aren't you gonna eat?" he asked with his head stuck in the fridge, searching for something to drink.

"Later," she replied. She went back to her boxes, idly picking through them.

Nick sat back down with his glass of water and continued eating, still amazed at how good the pasta was.

"Where should I put this?" Sara asked from the living room.

Nick looked up. "Uh, back in the box," he answered when he saw what she was holding up.

"What? Why?"

"This is a home, Sara. That," he pointed with his fork to the thing in her hands, "is work. They're supposed to be two separate things."

"But you don't have a scanner here."

"And I'd like to keep it that way." Nick loved his job, but he had his limits. He was a firm believer of not bringing work home, which meant no police scanners in his house. He didn't even have one back in Dallas when he was actually a cop.

"Why? How are you supposed to know what's going on? What if something big goes down while we're at home?"

"Then they'll call us. That's what phones are for."

She cocked her head and stared at him, standing her ground.

"Sara."

She remained silent, her glare fixed.

He stood up with a sigh and walked out to the living room. "Please, Sara?" he stuck his hand out to ask for the scanner.

"What's wrong with having one here? It's doesn't hurt any." Her voice was firm.

"Yes it does," Nick remained calm. "A home is a place you go to get away from work, to relax and escape all that stress and chaos. You have to keep the two separate. Especially in this job. I know you know that."

Sara let out an exasperated sigh. She'd heard this speech a million times in a million different ways, from not only Nick but from Grissom as well, and even a few times from Catherine and Warrick.

"Besides," he continued as he stepped closer, wrapping one arm around Sara's waist and taking the scanner from her with the other, "I can think of plenty of other things I'd rather be doing with you at home than listening to the scanner," he teased with a smile.

"Fine," Sara finally gave in as her lips cracked into a small smile.

"And if we miss some giant case, then you can place all the blame on me."

"Don't think I won't," she feigned anger.


	6. Birthday Surprises

Chapter 6 – Birthday Surprises

----------------------------------------------

Nick kissed Sara goodbye and watched her walk down the driveway to her truck before closing the front door.  Ordinarily he would have wished they both had the night off, but this time he needed her out of the house so he could carry out his plan without any distractions.  He only hoped she'd be back by morning and wouldn't have to pull a double.

He got right to work as soon as she left, and managed to get everything ready and even squeeze in a decent amount of sleep before waking up early the next morning to prepare for her arrival.

--------------------

Sara drove in the early morning sunlight, a smile on her face.  Her case had gone well and she was now on her way home to spend time with the man she loved.  She couldn't remember ever having a birthday that started out so perfectly.  As she pulled into the driveway she noticed that not surprisingly, all the blinds were drawn.  Nick was never one to pass up sleep on his night off.  She grabbed the colorful bouquet of flowers, which she received from the rest of the team just before she left, and hopped out of the truck.  She quietly unlocked the front door and stepped inside.

Although the blinds were drawn, the living room was illuminated by the soft glow of what Sara thought could have easily been a hundred candles.  She glanced down at the floor when she kicked something with her shoe and realized the floor was sprinkled with rose petals.

"Happy birthday," Nick greeted with a smile as he approached her with a kiss.

"Thank you," she smiled back at him.

"C'mon, breakfast awaits," Nick took Sara's hand to lead her to the dining table.

"Are you sure it's okay to leave these candles burning out here when-"

"C'mon."  He rolled his eyes as he tugged at her arm.

Sara followed Nick and the path of rose petals to the table, where she was greeted by more candles and the smell of her favorite breakfast foods, blueberry pancakes and an omelet made just the way she liked it, egg whites only, pepperjack cheese, no onions, and extra mushrooms.

"Nick, you didn't have to do all this," Sara smiled gratefully.

"Yes I did," he replied with a kiss.  He pulled out her chair and motioned for her to sit down as he went to take the seat across from her.

Sara took a bite of her pancakes and was immediately in heaven.  Was there anything this man couldn't do?

"Thank you," Sara smiled at Nick across the table as she finished the last of her orange juice.  "Everything was perfect."

"You're welcome." He flashed a toothy grin.  "But it's not over yet.  Wait right here," he said as he got up and headed toward the bedroom.  He came back and placed a gift bag on the table in front of her before sitting back down.

Sara raised a curious eyebrow as she pulled out the tissue paper and reached into the bag.  She pulled out a spaghetti strap tank top with a big blue star on the front, with 'Cowboys' printed underneath it.  She raised her other eyebrow as she looked up at Nick.  He knew she wasn't much of a football fan, and what little part of her heart she did have dedicated to football was reserved for the Patriots because of her days at Harvard.

"It goes with this," was all Nick said as he handed her an envelope.

Sara opened the envelope and pulled out an airline ticket.  Her mouth opened but she couldn't get anything to come out.

"I want you to come home with me for Christmas," Nick finally spoke when Sara didn't say anything.

Sara broke her gaze from the ticket in her hand and looked up at Nick.  "Wow," she finally found her voice.  "I don't know what to say."

"Say you'll come."

"Of course.  Of course I'll come," she smiled.  She was touched that Nick wanted her to meet his family.  And that he wanted his family to meet her.  She knew his family meant a lot to him, and the fact that Nick wanted to bring her home to Texas meant a lot to her.

"Thanks," Nick said.

"No, thank you," she leaned across the table to give him a kiss.  "This was the best birthday present I've ever gotten."

"I'm glad you liked it."

"I loved it," she smiled as she kissed him again.  She started to pull away but Nick reached behind her head and pulled her back, deepening their kiss.  The shrill ring of Sara's cell phone abruptly interrupted their moment of bliss.

Nick groaned.  "Tell them you're not going back in until tonight," he told her, thinking it was the lab calling.

"Sidle," Sara answered.  "Oh…hi…I'm fine…no, I was awake…thank you…oh you did?  Well I moved and I got a new number…"

Nick got up and started taking the dirty dishes to the sink when he realized it wasn't the lab.

"I know…well work keeps me pretty busy…No, no, no, you don't have to, it's okay…really, it's okay…I'll probably be working anyway…"

Nick finished clearing the dishes and sat back down at the table with a fresh cup of coffee, listening to Sara's side of the conversation.

"Well if you already made the reservations, I don't want to inconvenience you," Sara sighed.  "It's fine…I can probably take some time off…okay…sure…yeah, I did move, but….yeah but…yeah…okay…I love you too…bye."  Sara sighed as she flipped her phone shut.

Nick looked at her, waiting for her to speak.

"My parents.  They called to wish me a happy birthday."  Sara's expression wasn't that of somebody who had just been wished a happy birthday.

"And that's a bad thing?" Nick asked.

"No.  It's what they said after that."

"What's wrong?  Are they okay?"  Nick had never met her parents but nevertheless didn't want anything to happen to them.

"They're fine," Sara replied.  "They just complained that they only see me when I come home for Christmas, and that they've never come to visit me since I moved here.  So they're coming down here for Thanksgiving."

"Well that's great.  I can meet your parents at Thanksgiving and you can meet mine at Christmas."

"Nick, you don't know my parents.  They're…different."

"Everyone thinks their parents are a little weird.  That's what makes them parents," Nick grinned.

"I know, but Rosemary and Lou-"

"Rosemary and Lou?"

"Well those are their names."

"What's wrong with mom and dad?"

"I told you they were different.  They made me call them by their first names.  They wanted me to feel like their equals; they didn't want our relationship to be based on the traditional parent-child hierarchy."

Nick just looked at her.  Okay, so they were a little different.  Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

"I guess that's what hippies did," Sara shrugged.

"Well I don't care what kind of people they are.  I'd love to meet them," Nick smiled.

"Well there's something else."

"What?"

"They don't know about us."

"About us living together?"

"Well that too…" Sara stared down at the table.

"Huh?" Nick was a little confused.

"They don't even know that we're together."

"Ashamed of me?" Nick teased.

"Sometimes," she teased back.

"So we'll surprise them.  It'll be fun."

"No, it won't," Sara replied in a tone of absolute certainty.

"Why, they don't like surprises?"

"No, I don't.  I told you they're different.  There's no telling what they'll say or do when they find out I'm dating someone, let alone living with someone.  They've never met anyone I've ever dated before."

"Well then I guess I should feel honored," Nick smiled.

"More like scared," Sara quipped.

"It'll be fine, don't worry.  Now c'mon," he got up and held out his hand to her.  "There's still more of your birthday present."

"More?" Sara looked at him as she got up and took his hand.

"The best part," he winked with a smile.

--------------------

Sara walked down the halls of CSI, a smile on her face and Nick's arm around her shoulder.  The two entered the break room and headed straight for the coffee machine.  The last part of Nick's birthday present had left both of them rather tired.

"Hey Sara, these came for you a couple minutes ago," Catherine pointed to the arrangement of two dozen red roses sitting on the table in front of her.

"Why Warrick, you shouldn't have," Sara teased as Warrick walked in.

"What did I do?" he stopped in his tracks.  "Are those for me?  Nick, you shouldn't have," he joked when he saw the roses.

Nick looked on with a mischievous smile as Sara opened the card, remembering the message he had written.  Sara scoffed as she finished reading and slapped him playfully on the arm.

"What does it say?" Catherine asked.

"Uh, I don't think I can read it out loud," Sara glared playfully at Nick, who only smiled innocently.  Before Sara could react, Catherine swiped the card from her.  "Hey!"

Catherine read the card and her eyes went wide.  "Wow Nick, I didn't think you had it in you."

Warrick grabbed the card from Catherine and proceeded to read.  "Isn't this illegal in some states?"

"Hey, what is this?  Pass around the love note?" Nick exclaimed as he tried to swipe the card from Warrick but ended up grabbing at thin air as Warrick pulled his arm out of the way.

"What are we passing around?" Grissom asked as entered, plucking the card from Warrick's outstretched arm.

"Uh, nothing," Sara quickly grabbed the card from Grissom before he had a chance to read it as everyone tried to stifle their laughter.

"Well I have assignments to pass around," Grissom said, oblivious to the joke that everybody but him was in on.  "Nick, Cath, suspected arson at a meat packing warehouse."

"I'll bring the steak sauce," Nick cracked.

"Too bad I already had dinner," Catherine added.

"That's disgusting," Sara looked at the meat eaters.

"Warrick, Sara, you guys are with me, 419 out in Peccole Ranch," Grissom continued.

"I'm driving," Sara told Warrick as she headed out.

"Yeah, well you're lucky it's still your birthday.  Just wait another couple hours, when that clock hits midnight, then we'll see whose boss," Warrick replied as he followed her down the hall.


	7. Hippie Thanksgiving

Chapter 7 – Hippie Thanksgiving

----------------------------------------------

"My parents called me.  Their flight arrives at noon," Sara told Nick as she put her jacket on and shut her locker.

"Are we picking them up?"

"No, they said they'd cab it.  They're staying on the Strip.  Bally's."

"Who's staying at Bally's?" Catherine asked as she walked into the locker room.

"My parents," Sara answered.

"They're not staying with you?"

"No!" Sara said a little too forcefully, getting a look from Catherine.

"You know, we kept your bed and put it in the spare bedroom for a reason.  It's called a guest bedroom.  For guests," Nick playfully chided.

"They said they didn't want to hassle us."

"You didn't even ask them," Nick gave Sara a look.

"Well that's what they would have said if I did," Sara replied.

Nick rolled his eyes.  "You off tonight Cath?" Nick turned to Catherine.

"Yep.  Lindsey and I are going to my sister's," Catherine said as she grabbed her purse and jacket from her locker.

"Well have fun," Nick smiled.

"Happy Thanksgiving," Sara added.

"Thanks, you too," Catherine said as she headed out.  "Hey Warrick, Happy Thanksgiving," she said to Warrick as he was coming in.

"Yeah, it'll be real happy around here, I'm sure," Warrick replied sarcastically.

"Oh, poor baby," Sara teased with a pouty smile.

"Hey, we can't all have Thanksgiving off.  Crime never takes a holiday, you know," Nick said.

"Yeah, yeah," Warrick grumbled.

"We worked last year," Nick pointed out.  "We'll see you later, man," Nick patted Warrick on the back as he and Sara headed out.

"Later.  Have a good Turkey Day," Warrick said goodbye to the two.

--------------------

"I think my arm is about to fall off," Sara complained as she shook out her arm to relax her muscles.  She stared at the bowl of partially mashed potatoes in front of her.

"You're the one who insisted on real mashed potatoes."  Nick stood at the stove stirring the gravy.  He let a ladleful drip back into the pot and wrinkled his brow in dismay when he noticed it was lumpy.  Maybe if he sliced up some mushrooms and threw them in, nobody would notice.

"It's the only way to make mashed potatoes.  Those soap flakes in a box are not potatoes."

"They taste the same."

"They do not."

A loud cheer erupted from the TV in the living room.  "That better have been a Miami touchdown.  If Philly wins the Cowboys drop two games back in the division," Nick explained as he wiped his hands on a dishtowel and went to check the score.  Sara continued mashing her potatoes, having no idea what Nick was talking about.

"Damn!" Nick cursed when he reached the TV.  A few seconds later he came sulking back into the kitchen.

They continued cooking in silence for several minutes before Sara spoke.  "I think I should apologize in advance," she said.

"For what?"

"For my parents."

"Would you stop with that already?  Seriously, it can't be that bad."

"Would you stop saying that it can't be that bad?" Sara countered.  "Because it can.  And it will."

--------------------

Nick and Sara were cleaning up the kitchen when the doorbell rang.  Sara let out an audible breath.  Nick smiled reassuringly at her as he took her hand and they went to answer the door.

When Sara opened the door, Nick was immediately struck by the peculiarity yet familiarity of the two people staring back at him.  The peculiarity lied in their unique fashion sense; while it wasn't like they were stuck in a time warp and wearing tie-dye and bellbottoms, their bohemian manner of dress left little doubt that they were products of the hippie generation.  Sara's mother was wearing a long, floral printed dress and sandals, her frizzy red hair extending halfway down her back.  Sara's father was wearing a vibrant button down shirt that Nick could only describe as a 60s version of a Greg Sanders shirt, khakis and Birkenstocks, his gray-streaked brown hair, which was almost as long as Sara's, pulled back in a low ponytail.  The familiarity lied in their physical features; there was no doubt that these people were Sara's parents.  Sara's prominent cheekbones and pointy chin she got from her mother, while her eyes, nose, and tall, slender build she got from her father.

Sara's mother immediately smiled upon seeing her daughter.  "You look…skinny.  Have you been eating?  Does she eat?" she looked at Nick, who just smiled.

"This is Nick," Sara introduced.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Sidle." Nick gave them his best smile.

"Ooh, very nice teeth.  You probably drank your milk when you were young like your mother told you.  I could never get Sara to drink hers," Sara's mother rambled.  "But please, it's Rosemary."

"And Lou," Sara's father added, extending his hand and giving Nick a hearty handshake.

"Please, come in," Nick smiled again.

"Are you joining us for dinner?  Sara didn't mention anything about company.  She never tells us anything.  Oh, not that we mind," Rosemary quickly added as she stepped inside.

"Uh…" Nick didn't know how Sara wanted to tell them they were living together.

"So these are your new digs?" Lou asked Sara, glancing around the living room.  "Nice.  Homey."

"Actually, I live here with Nick," Sara said calmly.

Rosemary's head quickly snapped toward Sara.  "Did you get married?  Without telling us?  Again?"

_Again?_  Nick's eyes shot a glance at Sara, which Sara either didn't notice or pretended not to. 

"No," was Sara's firm yet simple reply.

"Are you pregnant?" Rosemary asked.

"No!" Sara scoffed resentfully.

"You still have a job, don't you?  Working at that lab?  Criminal science or whatnot?" Sara's mother continued.

"Criminalistics," Sara corrected.  "And yes, I still work there," she sighed, trying to suppress her mounting frustration.  "Why don't you guys sit down," she gestured toward the living room couch.  "We're not quite ready to eat yet."

"Do you need any help?" Rosemary offered.

"No, no, we can manage.  You just relax," Sara forcefully insisted.

"Oh, almost forgot.  We brought wine.  Napa Valley's finest," Lou handed the bottle to Nick.

"Great, thank you.  I'll go open this up and bring you each a glass.  Make yourselves comfortable," Nick said as he and Sara headed for the kitchen.

As soon as they entered the kitchen, Sara started pacing back and forth and rubbing her temples, exhaling audibly.

"That wasn't so bad," Nick teased.

Sara shot him her iciest glare, the one she usually reserved for only the dirtiest of scumbag suspects she faced in the interrogation room.

"Well it can't get much worse," Nick tried to comfort Sara as he opened the bottle of wine.

Sara scoffed at Nick's naïveté as she continued her pacing.

Nick poured a glass and Sara immediately grabbed it and started to guzzle it down.  "Hey," he reached for the glass to stop her.  "Calm down."  He took the glass from her.

"I can't do this."

"It'll be fine.  We'll face them together.  I'm not going anywhere." Nick leaned in to give Sara a gentle kiss.

"That's what I'm afraid of."

--------------------

"So, Nick.  Is that short for Nicholas?  Can I call you Nicholas?" Lou asked.

"It is.  And, uh, sure, I guess," Nick replied.

"So Nicholas, what do you do?" Lou continued.

Sara let out a small but audible groan.  Let the games begin.

"I work with Sara," Nick answered.

"Is that a Texas twang I here?" Rosemary asked with an exaggerated drawl.

"Yes ma'am," he played up his drawl with a grin.  "I grew up in Dallas," he added, his voice back to normal.

"Is your family still there?"

"Some.  My parents and most of my sisters."

"Do you still visit?" Rosemary looked at Sara when she spoke.

"Yeah, when I get the chance."

"_Most_ of your sisters?  How many do have?" Lou asked.

"Five.  And one brother.  All older."

"Ah, good strong sperm.  You should be proud son!"

Nick smiled awkwardly; Sara reached for her wine glass and emptied it in one swift gulp, immediately pouring herself some more.

"You know, just because I had only one child doesn't mean I don't want tons of grandkids!" Lou winked.

Sara almost choked on her wine.  "Can we talk about something else please?"

Sara's mother either didn't hear or chose to ignore Sara's plea.  "Speaking of, are you two getting married?  You know, you're not getting any younger Sara.  I'd like to see at least one grandchild before I die."

"Look, we're not married, we're not getting married, and I'm not pregnant." Sara snapped.  "Can we just drop it?" Sara's anger was evident.

Nick looked at Sara as she scowled down at her plate and poked at the scraps of food.  Everything her parents had said since they arrived had struck a nerve with Sara, but the issue of marriage and kids seemed to be particularly sensitive.  When Sara said 'we're not getting married' that just meant that they didn't have any plans as of yet, right?  She wasn't discounting the idea entirely, was she?

He and Sara had never openly talked about it with each other, but the thought had crossed Nick's mind a few times.  No brain-racking profundities, just a few brief musings here and there.  Since he never put much thought into it, he knew he was in no way ready to get married yet, but he wasn't ruling it out by any means, and he hoped that Sara wasn't either.  He'd put more serious consideration into the idea when the time was right, but for now he was just enjoying being in love with Sara.

"You do have sex, though, right?  That's always key to a healthy relationship," Rosemary said.  "Have you tried tantra?  Lou and I found that-"

"Okay!" Sara abruptly stood up.  She had had enough.  "Who wants coffee?" she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind, anything to get her parents to stop talking.  "I'll go put some on," she offered before anyone could answer.  She turned and practically ran into the kitchen.

After a few seconds of silence, Rosemary turned her attention to Nick to continue the conversation as if nothing had happened.  "So Nick, have you and Sara ever tried-"

"I think I'll go see if she needs help," Nick quickly said as he excused himself and went to the kitchen.  He walked in without Sara noticing him, and he stood back and watched as she noisily clattered around the kitchen, slamming drawers and cupboards as she made the coffee.  When she finished she crossed her arms and stood glaring at the machine.

Nick approached her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.  "You okay?" he asked after holding her for a few seconds.

"Great," she replied sarcastically through gritted teeth, her tense body failing to relax in Nick's comforting embrace.

"I'm sorry," Nick comforted her as he kissed her cheek.

"It's not your fault."

"I wish there was something I could do."

"You can tell them to leave."  She wasn't trying to be funny.

"They're your parents," Nick replied, knowing she was serious.

Sara let out a sigh, her body finally relaxing as she leaned into Nick.  "Then can we leave?" she joked.

"Not until after dessert," Nick teased.  "Nobody leaves before tasting the great Stokes Family pumpkin pie."

"I don't see what's so great about.  It looks like a regular pie to me," Sara glanced over at the pie sitting on the counter.

"It's all in the secret ingredient.  Passed down from my great-great grandmother.  Family secret."

"I bet I can figure out what it is," Sara challenged.

"How?"

"I have ways to make you talk," she teased as she turned around in his arms and kissed him, pulling away quickly just as Nick started to get wrapped up in the kiss.

"Oh, so it's like that, huh?" he raised an eyebrow.

Sara only smiled as she removed herself from his embrace and headed out to face her parents once again.

--------------------

The rest of the night progressed without further damage, mostly due to the strenuous efforts of Nick, who asked Sara's parents every question he could possibly think of, not because he particularly wanted to know the ins and outs of running a bed and breakfast or how to successfully grow yellow squash during the damp Bay Area autumns, but because it took the heat off Sara and prevented them from asking their rather candid questions.

Sara closed the front door and peered out through the peephole.  She let out a giant sigh of relief as she watched the cab drive off.  She turned and leaned back against the door to face Nick, who was standing behind her.

"You survived," he smiled at her.

"Barely," she replied with her head back and her eyes closed.  She was exhausted, physically and mentally.

Nick took her hand and led her to the couch, plopping down next to her as he put his arm around her.  Sara's head instinctively dropped to rest on his shoulder.

"Thanks," Sara said after several seconds of comfortable silence.

"For what?"

"I know you couldn't care less about how sage and thyme aromatherapy can lower your cholesterol."

"Hey, you never know when that might come in handy," he teased.  He waited a few seconds before speaking again.  "You know earlier, when you told your parents we were living together?"

"Yeah?"  Sara knew where this was going.  She knew he was sharp enough to pick up on that one word her mother had said, and she knew he'd get around to asking about it eventually.

"When your mom asked if we got married…" he wasn't sure how to ask.

Sara sighed.  "It was in college," she started.  "It started freshman year, first semester.  There was this grad student TA I had for physics.  I ended up doing really well in the class, and Johnny got me a job working under the same professor that he was studying with."

_Johnny?_  If Nick had said it out loud it would have sounded smug.

"And that's how my interest in physics started.  Johnny taught me more than I ever learned from my classes.  Brilliant, brilliant guy.  So I kept working during my four years and I helped out on this project he was working on for his thesis.  And I kind of developed this crush/idolization thing.  I never acted on it or anything, I guess because I had him on pedestal and was too scared to.  And I figured he only saw me as some overachieving undergrad anyway."

Sara paused to take a breath before continuing.  "So this goes on for four years.  Jump to senior year, just after graduation.  My friends and I wanted to celebrate so we took this impromptu trip, to Vegas, actually.  So the last night we're here, we're having this pretty wild night, and we run into, of all people, Johnny and his friends, who were there celebrating someone's birthday.  Well the rest of that night was fuzzy, we were all pretty tossed, but the last thing I remember before passing out was running down the aisle inside some cheesy little chapel, clinging to Johnny's arm to keep my balance, our friends throwing rice at us."

Sara looked up at Nick, but received only a blank stare.  "We had it annulled when we got back to Boston."

Nick thought for a minute, letting it all sink in.  An older guy.  Really smart.  Taught Sara a lot.  She worshipped him and pined over him for four years. 

Hmm.  Oddly familiar.

He let it go.  That was in the past, over and done with.  And it was beside the point anyway.

"Well say something," Sara said impatiently when Nick remained mute.

"I don't know what to say."

"Well are you upset?  Do you hate me now?  Do you think I'm crazy?  What?" Her gaze turned cold as she looked at him.

Nick looked at her, taken aback.  "What?  No, it's nothing like that.  I don't hate you.  I'd never think any less of you, no matter what you've done."  Nick couldn't believe Sara would think he'd be angry with her.

"So you're no upset."  It was more of a confirmation than a question.

"No, of course not.  I'm just a little shocked.  I'd never expect you to do something like that."

"So you just think I'm crazy," she smirked.

"I always thought you were a little crazy," he teased.  "But that's why I love you."  He gave her a kiss.

"I was drunk," Sara reiterated, in a last ditch effort to defend her actions.

Nick rolled his eyes and smiled.  "Well we all do crazy things we regret.  Especially for love."

"We do, do we?" Sara challenged with a raised eyebrow, wondering what kinds of stories Nick was keeping from her.

"Um…no.  Maybe later," he grinned.

"Oh, c'mon.  After the hell I went through tonight, I could use a good laugh," she begged.

"Later," he said again as he got up.  "Besides, we have a kitchen to clean up."

Sara groaned.  Now she remembered why she never really liked cooking.  The cleanup.


	8. Logging in Some OT

Chapter 8 – Logging In Some OT

----------------------------------------------

"What's going on?" Sara asked as she walked toward the break room with Nick and noticed it was filled with people, criminalists and lab techs alike, mostly from the dayshift.

"Department Christmas party.  Didn't you read that memo?"

"Christmas?  That's three weeks from now."

"Sorry, 'holiday' party," Nick corrected.  "Whatever.  Doesn't matter."

"Yeah.  Some people have to work," Sara said.  Why they always chose to have department parties during the nightshift Sara didn't really think was fair, but she didn't care.  She was actually glad she could use the excuse of work to get out of them, and she knew the rest of the team felt the same way.

"Coffee?" Nick asked as they walked in.

"Yeah."  Sara went to sit down on the couch on the opposite end of the room from the crowd of CSIs congregating around the free food.

Nick maneuvered through the mass to reach the coffee machine.  As he reached for the pot he heard a voice behind him.

"Hey Stokes, I heard you're out of the game now," a dayshift CSI said.

"Well it's nice to see you too, Lewis," Nick tried his best to sound polite.  He wondered if Lewis and some of the other dayshifters were asses by nature or they just got that way by working under Ecklie for so long.

"So is it true?  Nick Stokes is off the market?"

"What?"

"Word is that you and Sidle are logging in some major overtime, if you know what I mean," Lewis crudely remarked.

Nick only glared at him.

"Look, I know every guy's got different tastes, but c'mon, Nick, Sidle?" Lewis looked at him.

"Yeah, so?"

"Don't get me wrong, I like a feisty woman just as much as the next guy, but damn.  She's gotta be a handful, huh?"

Nick's patience was wearing thin.  "You know what Lewis?  I don't-"

"Oh wait," Lewis interrupted.  "She must be wild and crazy in the sack too.  That's the only reason why you-"

"Excuse me, I need to get my assignment."  This time it was Nick who interrupted.  He picked up the two cups of coffee he had poured.

"Hey, try the punch.  It's got a little extra kick, if you know what I mean," Lewis joked.

Nick never knew what Lewis meant.  "I'm on the clock," Nick reminded him as he made his way through the crowd toward Sara at the other end of the room.

"Oh, right," Lewis said in a tone that was anything but apologetic.

Just as Nick emerged from the crowd he heard a voice call out his name, one even more irritating than Lewis's.

"Nick," the dayshift supervisor called out.

"Ecklie," Nick replied with a forced half smile as he turned around.

"Has Grissom talked to you yet?" Ecklie asked.

"About what?"

"I guess not.  Well I'm sure his lecture will get the point across, but let me just say this.  Watch what you do around here.  This is a place of business.  It would be a shame to lose two damn good CSIs over something so trivial.  And I mean that as a compliment."  And with that Ecklie left.

_Compliment?  Right.  And what the hell was he talking about anyway?  _Nick shrugged it off and finally made his way to Sara.

Sara had been watching Nick and Ecklie's encounter, and from Nick's expression she could tell it wasn't a pleasant one.  "What was that about?" she asked as she took her coffee from Nick.

"I have no idea."

Grissom poked his head in the break room.  "Nick, Sara, I need you to take a 419 at the Tropicana.  Jumper off a fifth floor balcony."

"Jumper?  Since when is suicide a crime?" Nick asked, confused.

"When the jumper has a gunshot through his chest," Grissom replied, not missing a beat.  "But I need to talk to you before you leave, my office."  He left for his office without waiting for them.

Nick and Sara looked at each other before following him.

"Shut the door," Grissom said as Nick and Sara entered his office.

"What's up?" Nick looked at his boss, starting to get a little nervous, wondering if this was the 'lecture' Ecklie was talking about.

Grissom took off his glasses before speaking.  "Ecklie came to talk to me the other day," he started.  "He told me that some of his CSIs have been complaining about you two."

"About what?" Sara asked, annoyed.  The nightshift had much more reason to complain about the dayshift than the other way around.

"It seems that on more than one occasion they've witnessed you two engaging in behavior that's, uh, inappropriate for the work place, and it's making them uncomfortable," Grissom explained, a little uncomfortable himself, not because he thought the accusations were true, but because he was forced to think about what Nick and Sara did in their private time.

"What!!  And you believe it?!  That's a bunch of bull!!" Nick was furious.  Sure, he and Sara may have exchanged a quick kiss once in a while, privately, in the locker room, but they never did anything beyond that, never anything inappropriate or unprofessional.

Grissom didn't directly answer Nick's question.  "Look, I told you before that I trust that you two know how to keep your personal and professional lives separate.  And I still do, and that's what I told Ecklie.  I'm just relaying to you what he told me, like I said I would."

"Is that all?" Nick's anger was still evident as he glared at Grissom.

"No, actually."  Grissom turned to Sara.  "Yesterday I found your request to extend your vacation time during Christmas-"

"Hey, I gave that to you last week, it's not my fault you misplaced it," Sara interjected.  She wasn't going to miss going to Dallas with Nick because of Grissom's poor organizational skills.

"No, it's not that.  You can have the extra time off.  I just wanted to make sure it was correct.  You've never asked for more than a day, and now you're asking for five."

"Oh, yeah," Sara replied, embarrassed that she jumped to conclusions.  "I'm going to Dallas.  With Nick."

"Oh," was all Grissom said.  He hadn't noticed that Nick had asked for the same amount of time off.  "Okay."  He put on his glasses and started sifting through the papers on his desk.  "That's all," he looked up at the two CSIs when he noticed they weren't moving.  "Detective Vega is waiting for you at the Trop."

Nick quickly turned to leave, obviously still upset.  Sara followed him as they silently walked through the halls and out to the parking lot.

"I can't believe this!" Nick fumed as soon as they exited the building.  "Where the hell does Ecklie get off making these accusations?!"

"Would you calm down?" Sara looked at him.  Sure, she was upset too, but it wasn't even true, and Grissom knew that, so it didn't really matter what Ecklie said.  "It's just Ecklie being Ecklie."

"And who are these SOB dayshifters starting these rumors?  I bet it was Lewis.  And Weber.  I swear, the next time I see those two-"

"Hey, it's not even true.  They're just rumors, like you said.  You and I know that, Grissom knows that.  Nobody that knows us will believe them."

"I don't like stuff about my private life floating around the lab, rumors or not."  They had reached their SUV and Nick noticed Sara had followed him to the driver's side of the vehicle.  "What?" he practically snapped at her.

"Keys," Sara instructed, holding out her hand.

"Why?" Nick asked in an irritated tone.

"Because I'm driving."

"Says who?"

"You're not driving like this.  You need to cool off."

He glared at her but didn't budge.

"Nick," Sara warned.

Nick sighed angrily as he relinquished the keys and walked around to the passenger side.  They rode the short distance in silence and arrived at the hotel a few minutes later.  Sara cut the engine and looked at Nick as he quickly opened the door to get out.

"Hey," she called out, wanting to make sure he had calmed down.

He looked at her but didn't say anything.

Sara searched his eyes for any traces of anger, and found none.  She smiled at him, and when he managed a small smile back she knew her mild mannered Texan was back.

--------------------

Sara sat on her bed and stared into the open closet, dreading the task before her.  Packing.  She realized packing a suitcase for a trip was even worse than packing moving boxes.  You had to remember to bring certain things, pack things for 'just in case' weather, pack your pajamas, your 'fancy' clothes in case you went out, fancy shoes to go with the fancy clothes, birth control pills (very important, although staying at Nick's parent's house would make things a little awkward), extra socks, your toothbrush.  It was too complicated, and she always ended up forgetting something.

And of course, since she hated the task, she had put it off until the last minute, the day before they were leaving.

The phone started to ring and Sara leaped across the bed to grab the receiver from the nightstand, thankful for any interruption that would prevent her from packing.  "Hello?"

"Hi, uh, Sara?" an unfamiliar voice replied.

"Yeah?" Sara wondered who the female on the other end of the line was and how she knew her name.

"This is Alex, Nick's sister.  I'm picking you guys up at the airport tomorrow."

"Oh, hi." Sara notice her soft drawl as she spoke more.  "How are you?"

"I'm fine.  I just called to let you guys know that I might be a little late, maybe, but probably not."

"Okay," Sara couldn't help but smile.

"Tyler, my son, has a big soccer game, and my husband has to work so he really wants me to be there.  He can catch a ride home after the game but I wanted to stay as long as I could."

"Oh, well you don't have to worry about us then, we can just take a cab," Sara offered.

"No, no, it's okay.  Besides, baggage claim is always a mess there, by the time you get your bags I should be there," Alex explained.

"Are you sure?  We don't want you to be running around town, especially under your condition."

"No, it's okay," Alex insisted.

"Okay."

"Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow.  I'm looking forward to finally meeting you."

"Likewise.  See you tomorrow."  Sara smiled as she hung up the phone.

Nick walked into the bedroom and gave Sara a look when he noticed she was smiling.  "I thought you hated packing?" he teased.

"I'm going to Dallas," she said, still smiling.

"Yes you are," he smiled back as he sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder.  "Who was that on the phone?"

"Alex.  She wanted to let us know that she might be a little late, but probably not," Sara smiled as she quoted his sister.

"Well which is it?"

"Probably not.  She said Tyler has a big soccer game and she wanted to stay and watch, but since baggage claim is such a mess she'd probably make it in time."

"Did you tell her we could just take a cab?"

"Yeah, but she insisted.  Must be that unrelenting Stokes family charm and hospitality," Sara smiled.

"I guess."

"They must have run out of it by the time you came along," Sara teased.

Nick scoffed and playfully pushed Sara down onto the bed.  "I'm gonna forget you said that," he replied as he got up and walked out of the bedroom, but not before Sara could nail him in the back of the head with a balled up pair of socks.


End file.
